There comes a time in every mans life
by potsugi
Summary: aka: The wooing of China girl, (aka: the path of love is walked by two; one being creepily followed by the other). —Flowers and dates and holding hands are not for him, he supposes. And maybe love is not for him either, but she is.— gift fic.


this a birthday presento for tumblr user soyohime (*promotessss*)

* * *

There comes a time in every mans life

aka: _The wooing of China gir_l  
(aka: _the path of love is walked by two; one being creepily followed by the other_)

* * *

"Sougo, there comes a time in every man's life when we struggle to convey our feelings to the person we desire" Kondo stops him on their way back while Hijikata looks at the sky in a somehow embarrassed fashion. Okita feels dread growing in his balls. "Most of us end up as stalkers while others keep walking the harsh, childish road of _teasing_"

"What"

"I mean, it is time I pass down to you the ways of the stalking" Kondo smiles at him in the most honest way, like he's actually been waiting years for this day, and Okita refrains from blowing up his superior and the street all together.

"I don't see where you're going with this, Kondo-san" except he does, in the pitch of his stomach, he does "I'm the prince of Sadists, I will not fall as low as to become a stalker, no offence"

"None taken, my boy" but suddenly he is crouching on a corner, sobbing and muttering something about 'family bonding'. Okita turns to walk away when Hijikata follows him.

"He just wants to help. Though becoming that Chinese girl's stalker sure will be difficult. Maybe it would actually present a real challenge, instead of just _plainly_ teasing her like the _kid_ you are." Okita doesn't miss the mocking tone in his voice; in fact the bastard barely tried to hide it.

When he arrives to Headquarters he flushes all the mayonnaise he finds down the toilet, and gives Yamazaki the empty bottles, along with a porno and a disgusting wink.

xxx

Okita considers himself as someone who can easily deceive and lie to the masses around him. He has done it before, and he will keep doing it for years to come. It's natural for him to lie to himself too, though he knows deep down (and he dreads) the reason why _her_ clinginess on the Yorozuya boss creates a void in his stomach.

It is annoying. She is purely annoying, with her hands tugging on Danna's clothes and her kick aiming for Danna's head. He eyes them grudgingly and quickly fires insults in the direction of the girl (a pathetic attempt to get her attention back on him, always on him). She lets go of Gin's bloodied face and directs a punch at Okita.

And that's how it should be, he thinks as he barely dodges her punches. And the problem is how happy he is with this routine.

(the _real_ problem are the bubbles in his belly)

xxx

It's not like he wants to… _date_ her. Just the mental image is enough to make him cringe. But then she nonchalantly hugs Gin (fatherly figure or not, he doesn't give a damn) or bullies other boys, or ignores _him_ in favor of someone else. And it doesn't feel right in his bones.

He supposes Kondo subtlety telling him to stalk her is not an advice (advice for _what_ anyways?), but he somehow follows it.

It starts easy enough. He walks the same streets she does, only several feet away. He sees her movements, and because they are not fighting or insulting each other, he actually gets to admire her, even the tiniest of details. The skip in her step, the balancing of her umbrella, how her hair is not just one shade of red, the symmetry of her body, which pedestrians she greets, which she insults playfully, or flips off.

There's sweetness in the air as he walks behind her. And maybe that smooth feeling he gets while he watches her devour her favorite food (which he happens to know is rice) wasn't there in the early morning. Maybe it has something to do with how free she seems.

(with an uninterested look he also catches other teens staring, he feels sick, he glares at them, smiles, repeats until no one stares anymore)

xxx

She catches him (of course she does). She looks thorn between disgust, anger and something else he can't identify (or maybe he can but will not admit to see). He plays it cool (_of course_ he does), invents an act; something along the lines of 'keep an eye on suspicious aliens' and 'an officers duty', and throws in an insult for good measure.

She kicks his ass good and fair anyways. Okita thinks he can't blame her; after all he _was_ stalking her (it sounds _so_ wrong and still he doesn't even care, for all sadists are shameless). But the next day he follows her again.

And the day after.

And the day after.

xxx

He is not sure of what he's doing anymore. She finds him half of the times but as the days go by she slowly accepts it, the disgust barely there by the end of the month, the anger fading into sweet annoyance, and _that_ _something else_ surfacing bit by bit.

Okita reflects on the stupidity of it all. He finally stops sneaking on her and starts walking by her side. And here's what his best afternoons are made of:

Casual talk (she tells him about beating up a gang of bullies all on her own, he calls her a monster (though secretly he admires her)).

Casual wrestling (in which he becomes the opportunist, lets her pin him down and she is so close he can see that her eyes are one solid shade of blue, and it's like staring into the ocean (he kicks her stomach when he realizes how overwhelmed he must look because she is starting to stare back and no, he is _not_ going there)).

Not so casual talk (brothers, and sisters and dead mothers, and everything their nightmares are made of).

xxx

Sunset becomes his favorite time of the day

(her hair looks so red, her eyes are so clear)

xxx

It's not romantic, or cheesy; it's not intended. She is a bloody mess and they've been beating up a band of gangsters for hours now. It is the briefest of moments. She doesn't call out his name like in the movies, she doesn't try to jump and save him; she grabs his hair and yanks him back in one swift moment. A bullet goes right into the wall and leaves a crack that could have been his head.

And it's the glare she sends him (the _worry_, the emotion in her blue, and all her long eyelashes) that makes him _see_.

He truly sees her fight for the first time. She is a blur of deadly red and graceful purple, she kicks and shoots and her legs are pale like snow; delicate.

"Aren't you gonna _do_ something too, you lazy police-officer-scum?!"

Okita smiles at Kagura openly (not in a love sick way because he is not a kid anymore (or he tries not to be)) for the first time, and looks at her without the prejudice of how much of a fool he'd be if he fell honestly in love, how dumb girls are, how dangerous it is to open up to someone and how much power over you that someone may have (how _scary_ love is).

But he sees her and well, she's already got a strong hold on him anyways and she is nothing like what he knows, so he wonders how it _could_ be to fall for her.

When the fight is over she tells him.

"I got 17 of those idiots, I'm pretty sure this means I win. _And_ I saved your pathetic ass, so you are paying for my dinner now" she's smiling and she's cocky.

(and she is beautiful)

And Okita understands now, he has already fallen in deep.

xxx

Suddenly her name sounds natural. At 18 years old saying 'Kagura' was awkward; foreign, and it left a bubble in his stomach he hated. But now after years of nicknames and childish teasing it rolls perfectly off of his mouth.

_Kagura_.

He decides stalking her isn't an option anymore.

xxx

Seeing as she is not the typical girl and he is not the typical suitor (he calls himself that now, even in front of her, maybe in hopes that she will get a clue, but she doesn't, or she ignores him (and it hurts)), he wonders how to explain himself to her.

Flowers and dates and holding hands are not for him, he supposes. And maybe love is not for him either, but she _is_. Kagura is what he wants now and so he will find a way.

xxx

The first time she calls him by his name is a rainy day. She is still trying to prove she's better, and he lets her (he thinks she is actually more outstanding in so many ways, and if only he could find it in his guts to tell her directly… (but then they wouldn't fight like this anymore and where's the fun in that?)).

It's not until she brings up the subject of couples and holding sweaty hands that he gets honestly pissed. Because there she goes, dense (or maybe not, but he'd rather think she _is_), blowing kisses and winks at others, but still firing insults at him, still being a kid.

He never thought he would grow up faster, but he did, and now it's too late to go back on his feelings and even if he has to wait another two years for Kagura to notice, he will.

The biggest problem at the moment is how pissed at her he is. She's bragging about intergalactic boyfriends, princes from other planets wanting to make her their queen (he recalls that and the memory makes him want to puke); when he decides he _will_ wait, but he will make it as _obvious_ as possible too.

He grabs her hand so hard he thinks he might hurt her but he doesn't care. This is it. To her credit she doesn't put much resistance.

Okita kisses her, and he's sure he has a little more experience on this than her, but that does not mean he can't enjoy her horrified look seconds later.

That's not what sticks in his memory though. What hits him hard and pierces his heart in the best way possible is what she says.

"_Sougo_ you shit eating _rapist_, you _bastard_!"

There's a grin filled with pride and satisfaction on his face as he walks away (runs really, because she's following and she is deadly when angered), still recalling the sound of his name finally coming out of her mouth. She's screaming the most offensive insults she has ever told him, but when he looks back briefly he sees her blushing.

He is too happy to care for the broken nose she gives him.

(_really_, he is still a kid at heart too, and he's in love)

* * *

i hate sougo but i lvoe sougo it is very complicated


End file.
